Realm of the Nine Circles: The Grind: A LitRPG Novel

by P. Joseph Cherubino

  The finishing stroke made time for the remaining three adventurers to flank him. Kalmond backpedaled to keep the sun at his back. To his right, an Ogre swung at him hard with a two-handed war hammer. Kalmond dodged it only to take a mace to the side of the head. Where did that come from? His vision blurred and red fog gauzed the edges of his vision.

  The dwarf was barely conscious of casting water cannon spells until his mana ran out. Weapons flashed so fast, and for so long, he lost track of how many he killed. It was only when the last adventurer lay at his feet, and a gong sounded announcing his arrival at level sixteen, did he realize the fight was over. Kalmond also realized how close to death he came. The health bar flashed full from a mere pulsing sliver of red at its far end.

  Kalmond the stone dwarf

  Level 16

  XP 20309

  STA 37

  STR 35

  INT 34

  AGI 35

  CHA 35

  MAN 32

  MLVL 945

  Hit Points 14303

  Kalmond searched the bodies hastily. They were all between levels fourteen and eighteen. The dwarf counted himself lucky to be alive. The most valuable item was the Ogre’s +9 damage war hammer, which consisted of a spiked steel head that looked like a meat tenderizer. Its single enchantment slot was filled with a stun ability.

  The rest of the loot consisted of five-hundred circs between the adventurers, a few more precious gems, some armored mage robes and some fairly ordinary armor. All the loot would fetch good coin at market. He found seven more health potions and a berserker tonic. The tonic was an excellent find, as it gave him the chance to learn its formula back at the alchemist’s bench.

  But where was the NPC quest giver? Kalmond cast a detection spell and found a faint trail leading back into the woods. With his health restored, he followed the trail with axe and shield in hand.

  The trail lead back towards Darkwell, then veered east where the land fell into a narrow, rocky valley. A heavy stream flowed on a gentle curve and the trail followed it. Another detection spell showed a second trail that faded in the opposite direction. Kalmond followed the stronger trail at a slow walk, looking for danger among the mossy green rocks and mist as he walked closer to the stream.

  He didn’t see whatever spell hit him squarely between the shoulder blades, but it sent him face first into the rocks. He rolled onto his back as the old NPC woman from the forest screamed. She dropped down on him with her glowing pitchfork raised high above her head. Kalmond lifted his axe to block, and the warding enchantment did its job, sending the hag flying back head-over-heels in the opposite direction.

  No sooner than he scrambled to his feet did the hag fly at him again, pitchfork twirling above her head. The dwarf wasn’t so lucky this time. The tines caught him in the left shoulder as he tried to take a swing at her.

  Whatever enchantment made the weapon glow also paralyzed his left arm. His shield dropped uselessly to the ground with a clang. Kalmond danced away from her next swipe, then countered with a roundhouse kick that connected his foot with the hag’s head. He allowed the kick to bring him in a complete circle, letting the axe be the counterweight that spun him around.

  The blade caught the hag’s right arm above the elbow and removed it cleanly. She shrieked and dropped her pitchfork, then whirled back to face Kalmond with har palm out. A telekinetic blast caught the dwarf full force in the gut, doubling him over and sending him to the ground, where he slid across the rocky ground on his butt-plate.

  He came to rest groaning and splayed out on his back. The hag charged, and without thinking, Kalmond threw his axe without aim. Thud! The axe drove itself spike-first into the hag’s left collarbone, and she fell to the ground like a sack of muck. A purple XP bubble announced 345 XP earned.

  Kalmond struggled to his feet and drank a health potion in three great gulps. He didn’t realize how much damage the hag did because the potion brought him back just above the halfway mark. Kalmond kicked the body over onto its back. It took him two big pulls with both hands to retrieve his axe.

  The hag carried excellent loot. Her emerald necklace was worth twelve-hundred circs and was enchanted with a +10 against magical attacks. Kalmond put that on immediately. The best find of all, though, was the level-two telekinesis book. Kalmond read the book right away to gain the spell and another 110 XP. The pitchfork, while not a weapon he would use, had both paralysis and speed enchantments.

  To test his new spell and vent his frustration, Kalmond used it on the hag’s body before it faded. To his great satisfaction, the corpse bounced off the rocky ground and dissolved in midair.

  “Good riddance,” Kalmond muttered. With a sigh, he made his way back to Darkwell by following the stream, intending to resume the quest of finding the village blacksmith.

  But the land continued to drop. He was about to double back, because he began to realize that, while he was close to the town, he’d have to climb a wall of rock to get there. Then he realized something else. The stream ran through ever-thickening woods towards that wall and there was no gap. Where did the stream go?

  Kalmond rushed ahead to find that the water flowed into a large cave mouth. Darkwell sat directly above him. The dwarf checked his map. Sure enough, the quest marker showed him closer to the mark and heading in the right direction. There was more than one path to this quest goal after all. The hag lied.

  The air inside the cave settled cool over his skin as he stepped carefully into the darkness. It took a few paces for his eyes to adjust to the dim light that seemed to emanate from nowhere and everywhere. Black rocks glistened with dripping water that pooled here and there underfoot or sometimes flowed back into the gurgling stream.

  The sound of rushing water grew louder as the stream bank dropped. A few steps later, Kalmond walked through roiling clouds of cool mist. Stepping forward gingerly, he looked down over a waterfall that tumbled seemingly into nothing. He had to cross a few slippery rocks to get to the other side of the stream where treacherous stairs lead into the deep.

  The crude stairway paused on a smooth, flat slab of rock that stretched out to the sides of the cavern. The stream pooled there, then gathered into a shallower, wider stream that fell again deeper into the cavern. But behind the falling water, another passage invited Kalmond to follow.

  He cast a detection spell, and nothing glowed in response, so he moved ahead carefully. The passage was much narrower, and Kalmond’s shield scraped against the walls, producing a metallic ring.

  Just to be careful, he cast another detection spell. This time, the passage ahead revealed shadowy blue blobs shifting about low to the ground. Whatever they were, they were fairly large, rising to the level of his waist.

  Kalmond activated sneak and inched forward until he came around a corner and into another expansive cavern. Smooth mounds of rock dotted the floor at regular intervals. He counted six. It wasn’t until one of the mounds moved that he realized they were not rocks at all, but some kind of shelled creature. He made out clawed feet poking out from the edge of the shell. When he squinted in the dim light, he discerned the outline of a flat, gray, scaly, pig-like snout poking out from one of the tortoise-like shells.

  He’d never seen creatures like this before in the realm, and he didn’t want to find out what they were all about. The dwarf hunkered down and waited for his mana to regenerate before casting his sneak spell. For extra stealth, he stowed axe and shield as he made his way between the sleeping creatures.

  He reached the center of the chamber and paused to let his mana regenerate, about two feet from one of the creatures. It shifted and rearranged itself, poking its head out a few more inches. The head bore a striking resemblance to an armadillo. Its nose twitched. Uh, oh, Kalmond thought as one of its beady black eyes popped open. Kalmond ran.

  His hammering feet woke each creature he passed. By the time he reached the passage at the opposite side of the cavern, the creatures had thundered after. They ran on two legs, and each carried a la
rge, crude steel scimitar.

  One of the blades caught Kalmond in the right shoulder and spun him around. The attack revealed the creature’s name. It was called a dillo. For their size and mass, the dillos were fast. The dwarf armed himself with his new hooked axe in his right hand and the water cannon spell in his left.

  He dodged a swing from the dillo to his right, who blocked his exit, then blasted the dillo directly ahead. The water ball splashed against the monster and barely slowed it.

  “Shit!” Kalmond yelped, and darted to the left, and straight into another, larger monster.

  Kalmond ducked a swing from a blade to his head. When he came back up, he rammed his shoulder into the dillo, pushing it aside. The impact cost him more than 500 hit points. Kalmond sprinted back into the cavern, hoping to get to the other exit, but two more dillo stood in his path. The others ran up behind him.

  Next, Kalmond traded the water cannon spell for the telekinesis spell. He thrust out his palm at the nearest approaching dillo. The shot caught it squarely in the chest, pushing it back. It was not the effect he hoped for. But when he dropped his arm, he noticed that some of the stones around the monsters lifted off the ground and flew forward. Maybe there was more to the telekinesis spell than he thought.

  He was about to be caught between two rapidly approaching lines, so he darted to the left and ran across the cavern again. When he turned to face his attackers, they’d formed a solid wall and stopped a few paces away, huffing steam from their nostrils. Then, they spread out and formed a semicircle. Each time Kalmond moved in either direction, they closed in and widened their formation, trying to surround him.

  “Shit!” Kalmond exclaimed again.

  He needed to regain the initiative, so he held out his palm and focused hard on the loose rocks in front of the dillos. The rocks shot up to the ceiling, missing the monsters, entirely, but they were startled and dropped back a few paces.

  The telekinesis spell gobbled mana at an alarming rate, so to buy time, Kalmond brought out his crossbow and fired a couple of bolts into his attackers. Both scored solid hits, but the creatures were so heavily armored, the attack did little damage. It did end up provoking them.

  Two rushed forward, and Kalmond danced backward while he brought out the axe of warding. The rest of the dillo closed the gap and maintained their distance. Kalmond blocked the first swing of a scimitar. He brought his axe to bear high above his head, then stopped when he heard a voice.

  “Leave this place!” the attacking dillo bellowed. Kalmond stumbled back, and the dillo squared its feet and shoulders, but did not attack.

  Kalmond lowered his axe and backed away. “I seek one of my kind,” Kalmond said. “A blacksmith. He’s being held captive here.”

  “You attack us,” the dillo rumbled in a deep, gravely voice.

  “I’m sorry,” Kalmon said, eyeing with some guilt the two dillos with his crossbow bolts sticking out of their chest shells. “Look,” the dwarf said. Here are two healing potions. He set the potions on the ground and backed away. “You can have them. Please let me pass. This was a misunderstanding. I’m sorry, really.”

  The dillo murmured among themselves. “This is our home,” the big dillo said.

  “Are you the leader?” Kalmond asked.

  “What is leader?”

  “Boss. In charge,” Kalmond said. “Everyone does what you say.”

  At this, the dillo beside the talker slapped their companion hard on the shell. “Ha!” She likes to think so.” The other pushed back and laughed with the sound of running water. The sound was so strange, Kalmond couldn’t help but grin.

  “I mean you no harm,” Kalmond said, to which a dillo pulled out the crossbow bolt and held the bloody stick out before dropping it. “You attacked first, you know,” Kalmond said defensively.

  “We thought you were working for the takers,” the first dillo said.

  “What is your name?” Kalmond asked.

  “Rock,” the first dillo said. At this, the word “rock” popped up above every dillo head.

  “You are all named ‘rock’?” Kalmond asked, bemused.

  “No,” Rock said. “I am Rock. He is Rock,” and pointed at the second dillo. She pointed at yet another dillo and said. “She is Rock.”

  “OK…” Kalmond said, clearing his throat. “Rock, take my healing potion.”

  “How do we know it’s not poison?” Rock asked.

  To reply, Kalmond picked up the potion and drank it. He sat another in its place. “Not poison,” he said.

  Rock drank the potion and the dripping wound on his shell faded. “Very good,” he said. He stepped forward, and Kalmond resisted the urge to recoil, but Rock did not attack. “You are friend.”

  “Yes,” Kalmond said. “Friend.”

  “We will help you,” the leader Rock said.

  Kalmond scratched his beard. “I can’t call you all ‘Rock.’ I’ll call you Rock One,” he said to the leader.

  “No,” Rock said sharply. “I am not ‘Rock One.’ I am Rock. That is my name.” She raised her blade to demonstrate the taking of offense, but Kalmond put his axe away and held up his hands.

  “OK, OK, Rock,” Kalmond said. “Rock it is. But how do I talk to you individually.”

  Rock cocked her head and looked at Rock beside her. “Is our friend not smart?” She turned back to Kalmond, “I am Rock. This is Rock, that is Rock, understand?” she spoke slowly and pointed at Rock beside her, then turned to point at three other Rocks in the line.

  Kalmond grew frustrated. “Let me show you why this is a problem,” the dwarf said. He glanced at one of the Rocks, then looked away. “Rock, come over here a minute,” he said, then folded his arms smugly across his chest.

  The ‘Rock” he glanced at ambled over. “Yes, not-smart dwarf?” Rock said.

  “What the…” Kalmond stammered. He locked eyes with Rock and said, “Rock,” while he thought of another dillo.

  “Yes?” the dillo he called to mind answered.

  “Cool!” Kalmond exclaimed. “Yes, I am slow,” he said to the first Rock. “But I understand now. Let’s go, Rock.”

  When he strode across the cavern, every Rock marched along behind him. Now he had his own little army. He decided he very much liked these new creatures. He opened up his map and made sure he followed the quest marker. The passage seemed to wind endlessly down until it opened into a small cavern with three passages ahead. Checking the map again didn’t give him a clue as to which passage to take.

  “Duh,” Kalmond muttered. Why didn’t he ask Rock? “Does Rock know where the blacksmith is kept?”

  “Yes,” the leader Rock replied. It was uncanny and a bit silly. Kalmond merely needed to picture the dillo he wanted to talk to, and it just knew. “Not-smart dwarf, I told you he is probably with the takers.”

  “Who are the takers?” Kalmond asked.

  “The takers are above-grounders like you. They come and take our metal to build bad things. They bring shadows.”

  Kalmond didn’t like the sound of that. “Which way?” he asked.

  “Close,” Rock said. “That way,” and she pointed to the middle passage.

  Kalmond brought out his shield and hooked axe and entered the narrow passage with six Rocks behind him. The passage made one more turn to the left and opened onto a ledge overlooking a massive excavation. It was clear that the walls were carved by the right angles that formed squares and rectangles jutting out from a shaft that rose up to a tiny white dot of light far above.

  They appeared to be at the base of a deep mine. About forty feet below the ledge, a single, large, circular, covered forge belched smoke from a short, stone chimney. Kalmond made out the broad, bare back of a human cast in shadow by the wide maw of the forge that licked at him with red flames. When the human turned from the forge with a glowing rod of metal in his hand, the flames rendered him half red, half shadow.

  “Let us go free your blacksmith,” Rock said. Kalmond held out his hand to stop Rock.r />
  The shadow on the blacksmith’s back didn’t disappear when he turned with his back mostly to the glowing forge. The flame light didn’t dispel the shadow, which was no shadow at all. It was a wraith, clinging so tightly to the blacksmith’s back that it looked like part of him.

  “He’s got a wraith on him,” Kalmond said.

  “Maybe the dwarf is smart after all,” Rock said. “He sees the taker shadows.”

  “Maybe,” Kalmond said, “I’m just smart enough not to run into battle with wraiths. Look.” Kalmond pointed down into the mine pit.

  More dillos marched out from what looked like mouse holes bored into the rock around the sides of the mine pit. They marched in a straight line with wispy black shadows clinging to their shells.

  “That’s my wife,” a Rock said from somewhere behind.

  “And I see my son Rock,” another Rock said.

  “We need a plan,” Kalmond said.

  “We go. We kill the takers. We bring Rock home,” Rock said.

  “Not that simple,” Kalmond said. “The takers are very strong. “

  Kalmond backed off from the ledge, put his weapon and shield away, and lay down on the ground. He did an infantry crawl up to the edge and carefully peeked down into the pit. Scratching sounds alerted him to the fact that every other Rock mimicked his position exactly. He was flanked by all six Rocks, three to his left, and three to his right.

  “Watch,” Kalmond said. “Observe. Find weakness.”

  Rock nodded her head beside him. “Yes. Smart dwarf after all.”

  The emerging Rocks towed behind them carts filled with ore that they dumped at the feet of the blacksmith, who shoveled the ore into the forge. The blacksmith ignored them, andinstead turned to an anvil beside him where he picked up a hammer and used it to hammer the red-hot metal into a sword. He quenched the sword in a barrel of water beside the anvil, then dropped the finished weapon into a chest beside the barrel. He did this over and over again as Kalmond watched.